This is a collection guide. It is a description of archival material held in the Special Collections Division,
J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. The materials described here are physically available in our
reading room. None of the original documents in this collection are digitally available online at this time.

The collection is comprised of two ledger books and a booklet. The ledgers are from 1945 to 1951 and 1952 to 1958. In them is a list of examinations with date, name, date paid, and amount. A separate section is maintained for “negro” or “colored” patients.

The collection is comprised of two ledger books and a booklet. The ledgers are from 1945 to 1951 and 1952 to 1958. In them is list of examinations with date, name, date paid, and amount. A separate section is maintained for “negro” or “colored” patients. Loose papers have been left within the pages of the ledgers.

The Bessie Dunn Miller Center was established in February 1945 in Charlottesville, Virginia by the Albemarle Home Demonstration Group as a memorial to the late Mrs. Miller, a cancer victim, who was very active in health work among the rural women. It was patterned after the clinics in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago, but differed as examinations were limited to well people only. It was the seventh clinic in the United States and the first to deal primarily with rural women. Demand for these types of clinics arose as a result of the all-out attack on the problem of cancer and development of annual or semi-annual examinations. Individuals at the Miller Center pledged to three examinations, with many who returned voluntarily for fourth and fifth, at six to twelve month intervals. The Center only performed exams; results and notes were sent to the patient’s physician who carried out any additional studies or treatment. The Bessie Dunn Miller Center was a predecessor of the University of Virginia Cancer Center.

Online access to this finding aid is supported with funds created through the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). These funds come through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services which is administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. This grant is part of the North Carolina Access and Digitization Grant Program.

Container List

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